Toothbrush



C, E. CARROLL.

TOOTHBRUSH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1920.

m wm Patentedsept. 6 1921 66km e13 PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EDWARD GAB/ROLL, OF NEWPORT, ARKANSAS.

TOOTHBRUSH.

Application filed June 23,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. CARROLL, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Newport, in the county of Jackson and State ofArkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inToothbrushes, of which the followingis ,a specification.

This invention relates to an improved tooth brush and more particularlyto one of the double headed type adapted to clean both sides of theteeth and adjacent portions or margins of the gums at the same time, andis directed to certain improvements upon my prior Patents, Nos. 1133930,1091291, Design 44997.

In all tooth brushes provided with a sub stantially U or C-shaped heador in all double headed tooth brushes designed to clean both sides ofthe teeth at the same time, there has been no provision made forcreating more pressure or reducing the amount of pressure due to thevariation in the thicknesses of the front teeth and the large jaw teeth.Thus, when using a double headed or U-shaped brush there is not enoughpressure when brushing the thin teeth, but when the brush is passed backto thelarge jaw teeth, which are much thicker, there is generally toomuch pressure, with the result that the gums will be injured and will becaused to bleed. On the other hand, if the head of a U-shaped toothbrush has the legs of the U or the sides forming the head islong enoughto reach the gums on either side of the teeth in the mouths of somepeople with extremely long front teeth, then it is too long to use onthe jaw teeth in the same mouth, but by having the head divided and thehandle so constructed that the two halves of the head may spring apartas two heads or sections, the brushing surface may be forced down overthe longest teeth until the gum margins along the longest teeth may becleaned with ease.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush which will overcome the above objections and to provide aconstruction wherein a slight rotary motion or oscillation of the twohalves of the brush may'be effected to bring the pressure on the tipsalong the gum margins where perfect cleaning is most to be desired,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 390,994.

and at the sametime to provide abrush of simple construction and capableof economical production.

Other and further objects of my inven tion will become readily apparentto persons skilled the art, from a consideration of the followingdescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein: a

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the preferred form of my improveddouble headed tooth brush.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation looking toward the head end.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar view taken. on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Flg. 5 is a perspective View of a modificatlon, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a further modifiedconstruction.

Referring to the drawings in detail, in WhlCh like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several v ews, andreferring more particularly to F igs. 1 to 4 inclusive, my improvedtooth brush is shown as comprising a handle 10, the gripping portion ofwhich is made sub stantially channeled shaped in cross section, with theweb of the channel relatively thin and of concavo-convex shape asindicated At the sides of the handle there are provided flanges 12 andintermediately of the length of the handle, the latter is formed withconcaved grasping extensions or flanges 13 which are adapted to receivethe thumb and forefinger of the hand in which the brush is held for use.

The handle is split longitudinally or divided substantially two-thirds(5) of its length as indicated at 14, the slot at one end beingpreferably enlarged as indicated at 15, inorder that a certain amount ofrelative movement will be afforded between the opposite shank portions16 forming the shank or stem of the brush, in conjunction with the thinresilient web portion of the handle at the gripping portion, it beingunderstood that the brush is made of celluloid, fiber, or other suitableresilient material, or* even metal may be employed if so preferred.

The head is substantially U or C-shaped or double headed, that is, inthe formof an inverted U and provides opposed sides or sections 17constituting the heads which carry at their concaved inner facesopposite each other in downwardly divergent relation, the bristles 18which increase in length toward the tips as clearly seen in Fig. 2 ofthe drawings, the ends of the bristles being in contact in order tooperate against the both sides of the teeth jand, margins of the gums toeffectively cleanse the same. Thus, it will appear that by providing abrush with a divided head and shank portion, or the split arrangement asdescribed, the opposed heads are adapted to spring apart while beingnormally held in contact or substantially so. In this way the halves ofthe head and handle may spread apart in passing over the large thickteeth in the posterior or sides of the mouth and may be forced togetherby pressure on grasping the handle by the grasping flanges 13, therebycreating the desired pressure in cleaning the thin front teeth and thegum tissue adjacent thereto. By applying pressure as stated, theopposedsides or sections of the head are caused to have a slightrowhether the teeth are short or long and enerally obviating theobjections heretofore referred to. If the side flanges were omitted orleft off and pressure was brought to bear on the handle while the brushwas engaged with a large jaw tooth, the tips of the brush heads would beforced apart and this obviously would be objectionable. Thus, the methodof applying pressure in connection with the rotary motion or oscillatorymovement of the heads or head sections, is an improved feature, inconnection with the construction of the handle in such a manner thatthereis a springor springy part back of the bifurcation of the handle.

I am also aware a metal spring may be used or that a spring hingearrangement may be used, but the method that I prefer is that thematerial of which the handles are made may be of such resiliency and U-shaped as to form a spring, as already described. In Fig. 5 a modifiedform is shown in which the handle 19 is substantially U or C-shaped incross section, being channel-like but rounding instead of having thesides extended substantially at right angles to the intermediate or webportion and being substantially flat. In this form the back is slottedas indicated at 20, the slot being enlarged as indicated at 21 while thesections of the shank. are spaced apart and relatively flat as indicatedat 22. The heads 23 are disposed in divergent relation instead of beingsubstantially in contact and with their inner edges parallel, but thebristles 24 are arranged substantially as hereinbefore described. ,Theside flanges are also operated to cause the necessary rotary motion ofthe brushes to bring the tips thereof together under pressure for thepurposes heretofore stated.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings the two half sections 25 forming the shank ofthe brush,

as well as the handle, are of ribbon-like formation, being made fromstrips of material having cur ved end portions 26 disposed inoverlapping relation at the bight of the handle and secured together soas to allow the necessary resiliency to permit use of the brush asheretofore described. In addition, the sides of the handle arereinforced by the strips 27 or the sides may be made with thickenedportions in order to add rigidity at the 7 intermediate parts. Whilethis construction or the loop-like formation shown in Fig. 5 may beemployed, the construction shown in Fig. 1 1s preferred'in which themain divisions of the handle are joined along the posterior portion by athickened part of thematerial so that when the rotary motion caused bythe pressure is taking place, the heads of the brush will be held in thesame relative portions. I am also aware that still other ways may beemployed to carry out the inventive idea and that the same ends may beobtained by working out the idea in metal spring parts.

In view of the foregoing it is thought that the operation of the devlcewill be readily understood and in view of the simplicity and practicalvalue that it will commend itself to those skilled in the art.

Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and

, in what manner the same is to be performed,

what is claimed is:

1. A tooth brush comprising .a handle of channel shape throughout, itslength and divided longitudinally to form spaced shank portions havingoutwardly and downwardly directed heads, and bristles carried by saidheads and extending downwardly and inwardly toward each other.

2. A double headed tooth brush comprising a resilient handle, saidhandle being slotted for the greater portion of its length to the freeend toprovide opposed shank portions, said handle having side flangeswith edge extensions forming grasping portions for applying pressure tothe o posed shank-portions, said shank portions l iaving oppositelyinclined head sections and bristles carried by said head sections inopposed relation and adapted to be brought against the teeth by a slightrotary motion of the head sections through the medium of presflanges,said shank portions having opposure applied to the flanges andextensions sitel inclined and outwardly extending thereof. hea sections,and bristles carried by said 10.

3. A double headed tooth brush comprishead and extending downwardly andin- 5 ing a resilient handle slotted for the greater wardly toward eachother.

portion of its length to provide opposed shank portions, said handlehaving side CHARLES EDWARD CARROLL.

